Easier for You and Me
by Fae'sFlower
Summary: It's laundry day for the girls in Crage Hall. Galinda hates it, while Elphaba sees it as a chance to prove herself. What happens when they decide to do their laundry together? Companion oneshot to 'Blind Ambition'. Gelphie friendship.


**Another oneshot! I was doing laundry with my grandmother and that sparked this plot bunny. That… and I wanted an excuse to write in my 'Blind Ambition' universe again. This takes place in the early stages of the Gelphie friendship. So, enjoy!**

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"It's laundry day! Laundry day! How I _hate_ laundry day!" Galinda sing-songed as she laid on her bed, kicking her legs.

The green girl chuckled softly, her fingers gliding over the braille of her book. "The first of many."

"It's just… so much _work_!"

"Well, unless you plan on wearing dirty clothes for the rest of the semester…"

The blonde rolled over onto her back, staring at the ceiling. "Elphie, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

Galinda sighed loudly. Elphaba slid her hand to her left, searching for her bookmark. Finding it, she marked her page and turned towards the blonde. "Yes?"

"Did… have you ever… did your father ever let you…"

Elphaba smiled softly, knowing what the blonde was trying to ask. "Did my father ever let me do my own laundry?" She got an embarrassed mumble as a response and chuckled. "Well, being the Governor's daughter, we have servants who did our laundry. But I, ever the independent youngster, wanted to learn how to do it by myself, but my father wouldn't allow it. So, I would sneak into the laundry room when he wasn't paying attention and stay there while one of the maids did the laundry and learned that way. What about you?"

"My Momsie and Popsicle wanted to make sure I could take care of myself, so when I was ten, I started to do some of my own laundry. I always hated it."

Elphaba smiled softly and rose to her feet and slowly walked over to the blonde, offering her her hand. "Come on."

Galinda looked up. "Where are we going?"

Elphaba smirked. "The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."

The blonde sighed, but took her friend's hand and allowed her to help her to her feet. "Do you need help separating your clothes?"

Elphaba's lips twitched. "It would be a great help."

Hand in hand, the two friends went through and separated Elphaba's clothing, which was very easy, considering the fact that most of what she had were dark colors and very few whites.

"We can do the whites first, since it's a smaller load," Galinda said as she helped Elphaba load her clothes into a laundry bag.

Elphaba nodded. "Sounds fine."

Once they bagged their clothes, the green girl grabbed her cane and allowed the blonde to lead her down the stairs to the laundry room.

"There's no one else in here," Galinda said, seeing the empty room.

"Then we'd better get started before others start to come. Where are the washing machines?"

"To your right."

Elphaba nodded and used her cane to find a washing machine. Galinda realized why Elphaba wanted to get out before the other girls came and quickly moved to help her. She watched as Elphaba felt around for the door handle and opened the machine door before she began to hand Elphaba her clothes. The green girl felt the clothing material before she put it in the machine or put it aside to go in a special load.

Galinda noticed the lack of braille bumps on the buttons. "There isn't any braille on the buttons," she said, concern evident in her voice.

Elphaba didn't seem fazed. "I expected that much. I was warned I wouldn't be completely accommodated for. I was surprised enough that the building rooms had braille on them."

There was a very slight waver in Elphaba's voice, something Galinda wouldn't have been able to notice if she wasn't so close to the green girl. She knew Elphaba had wanted to do her laundry by herself, but was now forced to accept help.

"Is the machine full?" the green girl asked when she finished loading the machine.

Galinda looked inside. "I can fit some of my clothes inside."

Elphaba nodded. "Okay, but you'll be in charge of taking your own clothing out."

"Of course," the blonde said as she put half of her laundry load in the machine and closed the door.

"Where's the detergent?" Elphaba asked. She heard Galinda rummaging around until she found the large bottle and cup that all the girls in the dorm shared.

"Do you want to pour it?"

Elphaba took the small cup from the blonde and felt for the stop line. "Sure." She took the large bottle from Galinda, struggling slightly because of its weight, but managed to control it and poured the thick liquid into the cup.

Galinda reached out to take the bottle when Elphaba started pouring the detergent, fearing that she might accidently pour too much and spill it, but the green girl was extremely careful and stopped when she felt the detergent against her fingertip on the stop line. She felt for the small latch to the small opening to pour the liquid into. Finding it, she poured the liquid into the machine and closed the opening. She paused, wondering where the start button was.

The blonde, realizing what Elphaba wanted to do, gently took her hand and guided it to the large start button.

Elphaba's lips twitched. "Thanks," she mumbled as she pressed the button and the machine roared to a start.

Galinda smiled as she took her arm. "The clothes will be ready in around half an hour. Do you want to get lunch and come back?"

"Mmm, sure," Elphaba hummed as they walked out together.

The two young women walked out of Crage Hall to the café, bought sandwiches and made small talk with Chyla before going back to the laundry room.

"The clothes are done," Galinda said, noticing that the machine had stopped. "I'll go get the second load while you load the clothes into the dryer. Is that alright with you?"

Elphaba wrinkled her nose. "Dryer?"

The blonde couldn't help but giggle. "Yes, Elphie. Dryer. You know, the machine that dries the clothes."

The green girl looked even more confused. "There's a dryer in here?"

It was the blonde's turn to look confused. "You've never used a dryer before?"

Elphaba shook her head. "We don't have dryers in Munchkinland. It's pretty old fashioned there and we still hang clothes on a line to dry. We only have washing machines because it makes washing clothes easier and quicker. Plus, doesn't a dryer make the clothes shrink?"

"Not if you do it properly," the blonde said as she led her friend over to the dryer.

Elphaba placed her hand on the machine. "How does it work?"

"The same way the washing machine does, but… differently, if that makes sense," Galinda said as she carried a pile of the wet clothes over to the dryer and dropped them inside.

"I figure you have dryers in the Gillikin?"

"Yup. Here." Galinda handed the green girl a rectangular box and went back to pick up the wet clothes she had dropped.

"What is this?"

"Fabric softener sheets. You don't want the clothes coming out stiff, do you?"

Elphaba curiously felt the box. "Do you put them all in?"

The blonde giggled and tossed the extra clothes into the dryer. "No, silly. Just one."

Elphaba nodded and pulled one sheet out before handing it to the blonde. Instead, Galinda simply took Elphaba's hand and guided it over to the dryer. "You can drop it in, now."

Elphaba released the sheet and Galinda watched as it floated down and landed on the clothes. The blonde closed the door and pressed the start button. "Let's go back upstairs and get the rest of our clothes."

Nodding, Elphaba followed the blonde back up to their room to get the second load of laundry. Galinda watched as Elphaba felt through her clothes again, poured the detergent and pressed the start button. A few other girls floated in to do their laundry, but didn't pay the blonde or her roommate much attention.

An hour later, the girls finished their laundry and went back up to their room.

"That was fun," Galinda smiled as she helped Elphaba fold her blouses.

"Fun?" Elphaba questioned as she clipped her skirt on a skirt hanger and felt her way over to her closet. "You thought doing laundry was fun?"

"Well, I did it with you, which made it much less tedious than it could have been."

"Um… thank you, I think…"

"You're welcome. Did you have fun?"

"Doing laundry isn't exactly something I would classify as 'fun'."

Galinda's bottom lip quivered as she pretended to pout. "You mean you didn't enjoy spending time with me?"

Elphaba sighed playfully and turned towards the blonde. "Of course I enjoyed spending time with you, Glin."

The blonde giggled and bounced over to her friend, wrapping her arms around her. "And you learned how to use the dryer."

The green girl chuckled softly and returned the hug. "That I did. Thank you for teaching me."

"Anytime, Elphie."

"There's just one more thing you have to do."

Galinda blinked. "What's that?"

Elphaba pointed in the vague direction of Galinda's bed. "You still have to put away your clothes."

Galinda turned around and sighed, seeing the pile of clothes she had dumped on her bed. "But that means… _more_ work!" she groaned as she collapsed onto the floor.

"You know you are creating a potential tripping hazard for me."

"Shut up, Elphie!" the blonde pouted, wrinkling her nose.

The green girl chuckled. "Would you like me to help you?"

The petite blonde looked up at her roommate. "Would you?"

Elphaba nodded and offered her hand once again. "Of course."

The blonde squealed and, taking Elphaba's hand, rose to her feet, and the two friends walked over to Galinda's bed to sort through and fold her numerous, mostly pink, articles of clothing.

"Galinda?"

"Yes?"

Elphaba paused briefly before turning towards the blonde. "I... I'm glad we're friends."

Galinda smiled and gently threaded her fingers with Elphaba's. "Me too, Elphie. Me too."


End file.
